You are eligible for the Bankroll Builder promotion, good job!
NB: Bookmark this page so that you'll find it easily in the future.

Step One

Let's begin with the basics. Please take some time to study the Poker Basic Course and pass the quiz at the end of the course.
Let us know as soon as you have passed the quiz and we will credit your account with your first Bankroll Builder bonus.

You've passed the basic test and you'll get your first bonus in the next 24 hours, good job!

Step Two

The Poker Basics test was easy right? Well, there's a lot more to learn on the road to becoming a profitable poker player.
Now study the Cash Game course and once you think you have it mastered have a go at attempting the quiz. Don't rush through the course, there's a lot of content there and the quiz is tricky so spend some time on this.

Let us know as soon as you have passed the Cash Game Quiz and we will award you with your next buy-in.

Great Job!
You passed the Cash Game Quiz and know you've shown that you have a great understanding of the fundementals of playing poker. We have now credited your account with your 2nd bonus.

Step Three

Please play a 0.01/0.02 cent Real Money table at PokerStars and using the Hand Replayer post a hand here in this thread that you have questions about.

Here is a video on how to use the hand replayer.

NB: You must post a Cash Game hand only, tournament hands do not count for this promotion. You must use the Hand Replayer only to post your hand, we cannot accept hands posted in any other way.
Once you post your hand one of our Trainer will analyze it for you so please post an interestig hand where you have questions. Give as much information about the hand as possible, for example, had you any reads on your opponents?

Ok, finally got around to the cash table. Didn't have to wait long for a dilemna.

I'm dealt AQ in the small blind and it goes around back to me without action. At this point I'm thinking it's pretty straight forward; I'm simply going to raise this and the blinds are going to be handed to me (BB's only two cents into it after all). I get a reraise from BB though. OK, my opponent feels I might be very casually trying to steal his two pennies and he's satisfied with playing what he holds against a wide range he thinks I might be holding (or he's actually very strong, which is quite possible). I actually thought a bit about what to do here. Is it that he doesn't buy into my strength story and he's trying to shake me off garbage? If I just call I'm letting him see the flop, I'm sending a message that he may be right in assuming I have not much (I don't want him thinking that) plus he has position on me (not good). I'm thinking I can very easily miss the flop and then what do I do? I'd have to then check after having raised (=weak)or lead bet with an ace high to still appear strong, so I might as well bet now and put added pressure on him and make the case for my strong hand believable if he has any doubt. In line with all that has been written about being aggressive and assertive I decide to reraise my opponent. After consideraton, if this had happened in any other position on the board I would have probably folded AQ after being reraised, but the whole defense of the blind thing entered the equation. I felt it likely enough that he was testing me that I needed to pressure him somehow. That sort of thinking could backfire all too easily if he's actually strong. Is this escalation too aggressive with AQ here? He called it, which boded well for him not holding real monster strength like AA, KK. Regardless, at this point he has to assume I have something worth defending. The final bet I made is consistent with the story I'm selling and sized to make sure any flush draw isn't in the money. He folded. Not a really complicated hand at first sight, but there's still some thought into even this and it could have developed into a hard decision later if I didn't play it aggressively. I was happy to not see this hand go on as I'd be hard pressed to show any strength against any bet he would make after this, having missed the flop. Would it have been better played differently, perhaps with a larger reraise so he doesn't even buy a look at the flop? One has to limit possible losses too...I'll probably see this type of situation again. That's why I 'm asking.

Made about fifty cents in my brief first session, risking $2. It's not easy, though. You see all sorts of play which is hard to interpret.

Thank you for posting this hand for review and I have asked one of the Hand Analysers to take a look at it for you.
He will do this within the next 24 hours and once it's been analysed I will advise on the next step.

Interesting though process You make a good point that blind vs blind people tend to get crazy and try to resteal as they think the SB will be stealing with a wide range of hands. Like you said in different positions it might be right folding AQo OOP to a 3bet. In this spot I think we have to define the opponent type and our hand strength before we decide to raise, call or fold. First of all let me say that I think folding is the least favored action and its because our hand strength is too high to fold in a blind vs blind situation. Which I think leaves us with either calling or raising. Let's talk about 4betting first. Are we 4betting as a bluff or for value? So do we plan to get our money in the middle preflop if they 5bet us? Or are we going to fold? I think we can take a 4bet bluff with much weaker hands and keep AQ in our calling or 4bet for value range. If we think the villain will get the money in with weaker Aces then by all means go ahead and 4bet and be ready to get the money in the middle. However if we think they will 3bet bluff with weaker Aces but fold to a 4bet and only give us action with AK and JJ+ then I think by calling we get to keep their weak hands in which I think will work well for us even though we are OOP. Size wise, I don't like this min 3bet. I would go 0.26-0.3 this bet sizing really does not accomplish anything. For me I would just call and play cautiously post flop.

If I had faced a 3-bet of 20-30 cents I'd have to assume villain was looking for value for holding a mid to high pair or AK, AQ and possibly AJ. I would not feel comfortable raising or even calling that unless I thought it likely he was bluffing me, or he was a very loose player. I think you' re right in saying that if you' re going to be 3-betting it because of strength do it with pop, or else just call it and get your look with the starting hand you deemed good enough to make a stand against a steal with. The way he played it is not consistent with having powerful hole cards so I guess I can use this as a lesson if I am wondering if he holds better than I do when have AQ in this situation. If he raises weakly he's not that sure of himself. His 3-bet didn't accomplish anything for him. Thanks.

We now have credited your account with your 3rd bonus and You're doing a fantastic job so far!

You've still got one bonus to receive.

Step Four

Attend any LIVE TRAINING session here at PokerSchoolOnline. You must actually attend the session to get your bonus.

Please let us know what Live Training session you have attended, the Date/Time and Title of the session you attend and we will check your attendance and credit you with your final bonus. If you make a deposit at this stage you will also receive your final bonus.

NB It must be a live training session that takes place after this step was posted. Previous live training sessions do not count.

Getting PokerStars is easy: download and install the PokerStars game software, create your free player account, and validate your email address. Clicking on the download poker button will lead to the installation of compatible poker software on your PC of 51.7 MB, which will enable you to register and play poker on the PokerStars platform. To uninstall PokerStars use the Windows uninstaller: click Start > Control Panel and then select Add or Remove programs > Select PokerStars and click Uninstall or Remove.